From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
When Chief Rems Uchendu (a.k.a Agunechemba 1 of Aba), set out to exit bachelorhood in 1992, he had in mind like any other man with strong Igbo blood in his veins to start having babies within the next nine months.
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He was convinced that the parcel he picked was well loaded and among the best and, therefore, had no need to worry about.
But wishes, they say, are not horses. For 16 tortuous years, Uchedu lived with her wife, Judith, but without a single child to show for the marriage. Chief Uchendu did his traditional marriage on June 6, 1992 and church wedding on November 28 of the same year.
As the problem lingers, Uchendu who hails from Ibeme Ugiri in Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State set out in search for a solution.
This took the husband and wife from one place to another; from one medical prescription to another, yet there was no headway.
In a chat with Daily Sun, Uchendu said: “I did everything humanly possible for 16 years to see if I could get a child, but there was no way. I spent more than N10 million in the search for just a child, in fact, all the money I made within that period was all spent, and still there was no solution.”
But one thing that the couple had going for them was their absolute faith in what God can do.
“After sometime, we took a decision that we would not go to any where again in search of a child; if God would not give us one, we will accept His wish after all we’ve tried as human beings. After that decision, we stopped all medications towards this direction and hoped wholly on God”, Uchendu said.
Uchendu, a Christian of the Catholic fold, decided to put his faith in God in practice as he went into knighthood and was conferred with the Knight of Saint John International (KSJ).
Two spectacular things happened during the period that preceded his initiation into knighthood in September 2007.
First, his wife who although may have disagreed with him on some issues, but definitely not on the issue of child bearing, vehemently opposed his idea of going into knighthood.
Her reason, according to Uchendu, was that, “when one is initiated into knighthood, he would not marry two wives. She was afraid my family would accuse her of luring me into knighthood in order to stop me from marrying another woman who would bear me children. I told her to relax because all the while, she never knew there was no pressure from my family to marry another woman because we are a Christian family”.
The second and more spectacular thing which happened within the period was that as Uchendu was attending programmes preparatory to his knighthood initiation, his wife became pregnant and they never knew.
His words: “As I was attending programmes preceding my initiation into the knighthood, I never knew my wife had taken in. When it became evident, I asked her to go for scanning tests and the results showed he had only one child in her womb and we prepared for her delivery based on the result of the scanning.
“But God in His infinite way of doing things, my wife in February 2008, delivered twins (a boy and a girl). One came out at exactly 5.00p.m. on that fateful day and the second followed 30 minutes later,” he said.
As the twins, Prince Udochukwu and Princeness Adaeze were delivered, Uchendu said that at first he was confused, but later felt relieved.
He said everything around him changed as his house on School Road, Aba became a tourist site of sorts. People from far and near came to see for themselves if actually his wife given birth. Even some American doctors who attended to them in Nigeria when they were in search of the fruit of the womb, joined in the ecstasy of that moment. They went further to send gift items from America for the upkeep of the kids.
In the 16 years of waiting, wherever the couple went for medical tests, they were always said to be okay. But this never stopped people from cajoling them until it got to the point where they were in turn praised..
“Although within the 16 years of waiting, people said all sorts of things against us, but we were not bothered because we knew that one day, God will answer our prayers. After sometime, those who were cajoling and calling us all sorts of names, then turned around to praise and call us the best couple around,” he said.
Recently, the twins clocked two years and their father who had at their delivery presented a cow in fulfillment of the vow he made to God, treated them to a lavish birthday ceremony.
But like Oliver Twist, Chief Uchendu who asked for just a child, but God gave him two at once, is asking for more children, even as he said “at the same time, I will be contented with the twins if that’s all God has for me.”
